What are we worth?

Encountering the death of someone I didn’t even know existed but am grateful to discover did creates a poignant ambivalence. Certainly it matters more that a life be impactful than long but, when someone’s making a difference, oh that they could have more time to do so. The clichéd thought that the good die young may be an impression made by just how missed the ‘good’ are. Inasmuch as we are all essentially – or at least potentially – good, there’s no criteria by which a person can be missed more than another. In the end, how much we’re missed has to do with how much we’re valued.

A Blessing for Equilibrium

Like the joy of the sea coming home to shore,
May the music of laughter break through your soul.

As the wind wants to make everything dance,
May your gravity be lightened by grace.

Like the freedom of the monastery bell,
May clarity of mind make your eyes smile.

As water takes whatever shape it is in,
So free may you be about who you become.

As silence smiles on the other side of what’s said,
May a sense of irony give you perspective.

As time remains free of all that it frames,
May fear or worry never put you in chains.

May your prayer of listening deepen enough
To hear in the distance the laughter of God.

~ John O’Donohue (1954-2008), ‘Benedictus – A Book of Blessings’

As inherent as the value of someone taking the time to express truth, beauty & artistry seems to me; there are those who seek more practical proof of value. Those of us worth less monetarily are oft considered worthless by those seeking achievement rather than purpose. Of course a ‘good’ job & even a career, if it’s something you love, are great; they just shouldn’t be the point. I can’t say whether an Irish scholar, poet & philosopher like John O’Donohue had financial success – he is published – but I guarantee it wasn’t his purpose. It’s not my intent to boil things down to the haves & have-nots, alas, money is simply the most typical measuring tape used by those who look outward rather than inward for their own worth.

It might be interesting to note that our detractors are always careered & well-off, or married to someone who is, if it weren’t so utterly clichéd in itself. What is interesting is that the far more numerous kudos come from no particular social or economic standing. Those busily judging are convinced our priorities are skewed or, worse, that we have none. Therein lies the irony for it’s in prioritizing what life has to offer that one forgets to offer themselves, or even has much left to give. This is not to say that one cannot be both typically successful as well as personally. It all comes down to a question of balance, as does everything, & two entirely different types of success cannot always be balanced. In pursuing societal concerns, the challenge is to not lose oneself to the process.

The phonological ambiguity of the English word for our organ of vision with the word for our individuality is deeply meaningful, as anyone can tell by replacing the one for the other in many contexts. Here, O’Donohue tells us about the materialistic or scientific eye (or “I”) that must judge everything it sees:

The judgmental eye harvests the reflected surface and calls it truth.

Below is a litany of “eyes” or “‘I’s” that he lists for the reader spread over pages 62 – 64 [of Anam Cara]:

To the fearful eye, all is threatening.
To the greedy eye, everything can be possessed.
To the judgmental eye, everything is closed in definitive frames.
To the resentful eye, everything is begrudged.
To the indifferent eye, nothing calls or awakens.
To the inferior eye, every else is greater.
To the loving eye, everything is real.

There are many amazing people who’ve found success on both fronts but whatever’s achieved outwardly can have no greater meaning than what’s being accomplished inwardly. Thus, those priding themselves on being hardworking who haven’t put in as much work if not more on themselves are poised on a brink. Should something unforeseen happen, they could lose all that they are while the rest of us are comprised of things that can’t be compromised. Take the hitherto unknown to me O’Donohue; it’s his words & beliefs that live on, not the fact that they were published or that he’d been a priest. The latter was born of the former & his legacy is clearly phenomenal though for who, not what, he was thus is even to those of us discovering him posthumously.

(|_|*cheers*|_|)
“If you live the life you love, you will receive shelter and blessings.  Sometimes the great famine of blessings in and around us derives from the fact that we are not living the life we love; rather, we are living the life that is expected of us.  We have fallen out of rhythm with the secret signature and light of our own nature.” ~ John O’Donohue

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